Flying Back to Cebu

Last June 21, 2008, Saturday, Val texted me to go back to Cebu with him after his 4 days leave for my birthday. They will be having their team building on the 1st week of July. They will be staying at one of his agent’s house which is by the sea side. They will stay there for free and they will only pay for the bus fare and food. They also planned to hike to the waterfalls. He added that it could be his last team building for he can transfer anytime to Bacolod in July and it would be Armie’s (his agent) last team building since she will be leaving for Malaysia.

Hmm… Sounds good. I suddenly thought of the things that I will do while I’m in Cebu. First, that would give me another chance to explore Cebu. Second, I can help Val while he looks for a car repair shop. And third, I can be with my husband again!  Besides, we can travel together by plane which I’ve missed so much!

I hastily booked for PAL Express to have the same flight with Val on June 27 at 7:35 p.m. Sad to say, it would cost more or less P 4,000 for Bacolod-Cebu inclusive of taxes, surcharges and insurance. I tried their morning schedule but it costs the same.

Uh-oh… What should I do? The next day has the lowest fare but Val can’t fetch me from the airport. He won’t have his rest day until July 4 which is their team building day. I launched Cebu Pacific’s online booking and luckily they have the lowest fare but they only have one flight daily which is 8:35 a.m. I can’t go ahead Val on that day.

I told Val about the problem then I suggested to purchase 2 etickets from Cebu Pacific and have his PAL Express eticket refunded. He agreed and I booked for our flight right away.

June 27 came. We reached the check-in counter without hassle until the fine lady behind the counter asked if there’s only one passenger after checking our etickets. I told her there are 2 of us. She gave back the 2 printouts which showed the same name. I blinked twice but both etickets has Val’s name on it! Same date, time and flight.

Uh-oh (again)! My brain tried to work double time. Have I booked 2 same flights with Val’s name? How can I tell the management that I just made a simple mistake? How can I convince them to allow me in that flight by using the other eticket? Should I buy my ticket right then and there if they refused? What if we don’t have enough money? I breathed deeply and scrutinized the confirmation number on each page. Thank God they are exactly the same which means there’s a chance that the other booking has my name.

Back to reality, I politely asked the young lady to check their system if my name will appear on that flight. Calmly, she asked for my ID and clicked several keys on her keyboard then she confirmed my name. Whew! I thought I might cry for my stupid mistake if she can’t locate my name. I smiled and sincerely thanked her when she handed our boarding passes.

How could I do this when I’ve been booking and printing numbers of etickets since the convenience of online booking started? How are we able to pass the guard after showing our etickets and IDs? What if at first the guard discovered that I don’t have my eticket? How will I enter the terminal? *sigh*

Just recently, Cebu Pacific has their smaller fleet for BCD-CEB & v.v. flight. Compared to their Airbus fleet which is a 3-seater unit, this one is a 2-seater with 80 capacity.

ATR 72-500

Airbus

I love watching the sky especially when it’s fine and clear. During our 30-45 minute flight, I was able to take pictures of the sky with different forms of clouds.

leaving Bacolod-Silay International Airport

on top of the world

approaching Mactan Cebu International Airport

It’s fun travelling whether by air, by sea, or by land. I’m returning to Cebu again this time with my husband. I enjoyed travelling with him. The moment is incomparable.